This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Many power tools that are commercially available include a two-speed transmission with three or more transmission stages in an effort to provide the user with greater control over the output speed of these tools. The commercially available power tools typically employ a transmission that utilizes several planetary gear reductions that are aligned along a common rotational axis (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,289), or a transmission that employs a spur gear arrangement (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,766). We have found that it is difficult to compactly package such transmissions into a tool when the power tool is to be capable of producing a relatively high power (e.g., torque) output.
One solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,476 in which the transmission includes a spur gear reduction and planetary reduction. It would be desirable, however, to provide a power tool in which the motor and transmission are packaged in an even more compact manner.